Alabama’s plain-spoken immigration policy


gazettextra.com
By ESTHER CEPEDA
Thursday, Oct. 6, 2011

CHICAGO — Now that Alabama got a federal judge’s permission to execute key parts of its anti-illegal immigration law—most notably, requiring that police officers check the immigration status of suspects believed to be in the country illegally, detaining those who are, and asking schools to verify a student’s legal status and keep records—it has succeeded in articulating a message that this country is ambivalent about.

Alabama is saying: Illegal immigrants, we don’t want you here. So unless you want to get caught up in our laws, get out as soon as you can.

Linton Joaquin, general counsel for the National Immigration Law Center, told reporters at a recent news conference that even though the law’s requirement to ask students about legal status doesn’t go into full effect until next year’s registration, he’s already heard that existing students have been asked for proof of their status. News reports have varied, but some estimates say about 2,000 Hispanic students are missing from Alabama’s schools since the law went into effect last week.

It is tragic that parents are so scared of possible deportation for their children or themselves that they are forgoing a benefit they are entitled to—the Supreme Court ruled in 1982 that all children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to attend public school. And it’s undeniable that other provisions of the new law put legal immigrants and U.S.-born residents at risk of being victim to racial profiling or other forms of discrimination toward those who “lookâ€